Canada’s med-pot could be dangerous to your health

By
Dana Larsen
on November 21, 2003

Moldy buds like this should not be used.The medical pot the Canadian government is selling to needy patients has been deemed unusable by those who have received it. Further, independent lab tests show that it is low in potency and high in contaminants.
Jim Wakeford, 58, is an AIDS patient whose court battles helped push the Canadian government’s med-pot program. He told the media that the government ganja was “unfit for human consumption,” and said that he was returning his unpaid bill for two bags with a written complaint. Other patients called the herb “weak” and “disgusting,” and one claimed the pot actually made him vomit.

The product patients receive is a finely-ground mix of buds, leaves and stalks. This is done to lower the potency of the final product to Health Canada specifications. Health Canada wanted buds at no more than 10% THC, but the buds being grown reach up to 30% THC, according to Prairie Plant Systems head Brent Zettl.

A med-pot patients’ rights group called Canadians for Safe Access (CSA) acquired some of the government’s bud and had it tested against cannabis from the Vancouver Island Compassion Society (VICS). Their results showed that the government pot was only 3% THC, not the 10% the feds were claiming. The VICS pot rated 12.7% THC. The tests also revealed arsenic levels in the federal herb were twice that of the VICS buds.

“We used labs fully certified in these kinds of tests,” Phillippe Lucas of the CSA told Cannabis Culture. “But since patients aren’t supposed to let anyone test their pot, and since these labs were also handling and testing the illegal buds from our compassion club, the labs must remain anonymous.”

PPS and Health Canada claimed their tests showed that the buds were potent and within safety standards, but they refused to release any actual lab test results to counter CSA claims.

“Not only is this pot weak and higher in arsenic and lead than it should be, but it has been sterilized using gamma irradiation,” added Lucas. “This technique remains so controversial due to safety concerns that it has never been used on foodstuffs in North America.”

Zettl told the media that complaints about his product are part of a “hidden agenda” by marijuana growers and pot businesses. “Check out the marijuana websites; look at the amount of advertising,” said Zettl. “There are people out there who don’t want any competition.”Moldy buds like this should not be used.